Letters Home
by Momo Aathara
Summary: This is a complement story for Erudite's Mind and Daring Dauntless that will entirely consist of letters between characters. OCs are the main focus, but some canon characters will be included.
1. Zane to Maria

**Well, here's the first in a series of letters Annalice999 and I are going to be writing for the characters in our fan fictions, Erudite's Mind and Daring Dauntless. Check those out if you haven't already, and please enjoy Zane's letter to Maria.**

…

Dear Maria,

I'm sorry. That's the first, and most important, thing I have to say. I'm sorry that I'm leaving, left, and I'm sorry that I don't want to stay any more, but most of all, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you beforehand, warn you beforehand. I'm sorry. I wanted to, I really did, but I just didn't know how to say it. I guess I'm just a coward.

I bet right now you're wondering why I'm choosing, chose, Amity over Erudite, my home. You always were curious, but you've probably already guessed most of my reasons by now; they weren't very hard to find, but I'm going to tell you anyway. I need to tell someone, but there's no way dad would understand, and mom's a little _too_ kind when it comes to things like this. That sounds strange now. Shouldn't I believe that there's no such thing as _too_ kind? Maybe it will go away once I leave, but I hope that I keep what I learned from Erudite even after I'm gone. Even if sometimes, most of the time, I wasn't our faction's biggest fan, it is, was, my home.

I'm sorry that I have to keep correcting myself, but it's still so strange to me that I'm really leaving. I really left. I want to leave, I really do, but I'll miss everyone, especially you, so much, and Erudite will always be a part of me, so I can't think of it in the past tense, not yet. Unfortunately, I'll have to face it, now, because choosing day is tomorrow, and then Erudite really will be in my past. That's still a bit scary for me to accept, but despite my misgivings about leaving our family, I've made my decision.

Erudite is changing for the worse, and we both know it. When I was younger, our faction was such a different place than it is now. Everyone used knowledge for the sole purpose of benefiting everyone, but now we have become greedy, and I can't watch my home deteriorate any more. I know you still believe it can change back, and I hope that you can make it happen, but Erudite, the way it is now, isn't my home anymore.

I really am sorry, Maria. I don't want to leave you with dad, who I fear is only going to get worse as time goes on and Jeanine rises in power, plus the future dictator herself, but I have to get out of here. I fear for the future of Erudite, and it's only going to get worse if I stay, and I think, no I know, that I will be truly happy in Amity.

My family is honestly the only thing that is keeping me a bit hesitant about my decision to leave. You and I both know that I've never really had any close friendships like you have with Ariya and Will, but it has never really bothered me, especially now. Other than you and mom, I really don't have anyone I can talk to except Jordan, and she's transferring to Amity with me. I know she was born Dauntless, the exact opposite of Amity, and that you've never even seen her before, but she's probably my best friend, and she's just one more reason to transfer to Amity.

I don't know if mom ever told you this, but she actually only transferred to Erudite for dad. She got Abnegation on the aptitude test, which is why she only has her natural intelligence instead of the natural drive for knowledge that you have, but she decided to transfer anyway because she just knew that she loved him. It must kill her to see his deteriorating attitude towards her former faction now. I can't bear to see her heart break every day; it hurts to see our mother cry, even if her tears never reach the surface.

All of this has led up to my decision to leave, and my aptitude test results only confirmed what I had already been considering. I really wish I could have told you, Maria, but there was never a right time. Even if I had a century to tell you, I don't think there ever would have been a right time. I hope you don't hate me for leaving because I will always love you. I will always love mom and even dad when I can remember how he used to be.

Goodbye, Maria. I'll see you from across the river where the grass grows bright green and everyone is always smiling. It's a world that Erudite will never understand or appreciate, but I do. I've found where I belong; I just hope you can forgive me once this is all over.

With Love,

Zane

…

_Maria found the letter a few days after he left once she finally had the heart to go in his room. If she harbored any resentment at all, it vanished when she read what he had written for her. She never told her mom and dad about the note, but to this day she carries it in her back right pocket of her jeans wherever she goes because it reminds her that it's okay to follow your heart even if it leads you away from the people you love because if they love you back, they will want you to be happy. It reminds her of what she needs to fix in her faction, even though it's impossible for her to forget. It reminds her of Ariya, who also followed her heart, and of Will, who stuck by them no matter what. It reminds her that she has people who will always love her, and that she has something to fight for if she has to. She had never forgotten to take it with her for two years._

…

**As more chapters of Erudite's Mind come out, please post suggestions for other letters Annalice or I could do. We already have a few ideas, but suggestions are always welcome. Thanks for reading! 8D **


	2. Jordan to Kai

Dear Kai,

I'm not going to make this letter too long; I know you were never one for long goodbyes, but this one isn't just until tomorrow, it's forever, so I need you to make an exception for me. I need to say goodbye to you, to everyone in Dauntless, but especially to you, because I'm leaving tomorrow.

I've never been brave like you are, and I can't change that no matter how hard I try. I can't continue facing my father everyday like you can with yours. I can't stand up to him, so I have to get away. I've chosen to go to Amity. I think I'll feel at home there, and Zane's going too.

I know you don't like him because you think that he's a coward, but he's also kind and compassionate, and I like him, a lot. However, he's not the reason I'm choosing Amity; it's not just for him. I want to learn how to be kind to people no matter how cruel they are. They all have their own reasons for doing what they do, and I want to understand.

This all probably sounds stupid to you, but I wanted you to know why I left. I wanted you to forgive me, even if that may be too much to ask. It's selfish of me, I know, but I have to know that you're going to be alright once I'm gone. You could make more friends if you wanted to; everyone admires you and thinks you're funny, if you just give them a chance. You've made them admire you, and you should be proud of that.

Be brave, Kai. Be strong, and please don't forget about me. I know I'll never forget you.

Jordan

…

_ Kai didn't find the letter until long after Dauntless initiation where he placed third after a kid with four fears and an Erudite boy who prided himself in knowing every way to kill someone without a weapon. He found the note sitting on his old bed the day before he was set to leave for the fence. At first he was angry; he set the letter on fire and left the ashes sitting on his bedside table, but after a few hours, his anger faded. He understood why she had to leave, and he accepted it. He put the letter's ashes in the jar that sat on the family mantle that held his mother's ashes, now a shrine to two people he had lost._

…

**If you want to hear more about Kai and Jordan's story, I'm going to post another story that will be a collection of one-shots based around Erudite's Mind and Daring Dauntless. They will mostly just offer insight into some of the characters' pasts and personalities, so be sure to check out … if you're interested. Also, you can suggest letters either Annalice999 or I can write. We already have quite a few ideas for our OCs, but we'd also like to write some between some of the actual Divergent charters, so if you have any ideas don't hesitate to share. Thanks for reading! 8D**


	3. Maria to Her Father

Dad,

Please come back to us.

I know that you don't realize how much you've drifted away from mom and I, but we both miss you terribly, the old you. You've become so obsessed with power and Jeanine's twisted version of our faction that you have completely abandoned Erudite's true way of life and with it mom and I too.

Erudite is supposed to be a place of learning for the sake of learning, reading for the sake of reading, and creating for the sake of making the world a better place for everyone, regardless of whether they agree with us or not, and now Jeanine is twisting everything. Erudite is not about power. Erudite is not about strength. Erudite is not about hating everyone who doesn't think and act the way we do. Erudite is about understanding. I have always thought that would be a more appropriate tagline for our faction.

Abnegation: The Faction of Selflessness

Amity: The Faction of Kindness

Candor: The Faction of Honesty

Dauntless: The Faction of Courage

Erudite: The Faction of Understanding

I still believe, even now after all of the changes Jeanine has enacted, that we are the faction of understanding. We learn so that we can see arguments from more than one perspective so we can create a solution that benefits everyone. But now, I fear we have lost that goal.

The point of all of this is to convince you to come back to the way Erudite used to be, the right way. Somewhere deep in my heart I know that the likelihood of you coming back to us now is low, considering how much you've changed in the short two years since Jeanine's popularity surfaced, but I refuse to give up on you yet.

I want the father back who took me to the river on a cloudless night and told me the history and the location of each and every star and constellation in the sky. I want back the father who introduced me to Shakespeare when I was only three and taught me the magic of traveling to a completely different world through reading, but you aren't that father anymore.

You treat me like I am worthless and nothing, and it hurts to see you this way; it hurts to see you so warped from what you used to be. I want the old you back, the real you. Please, for me.

Your daughter,

Maria

…

_Maria wrote this letter in her room one day after a particularly bad argument with her father, but she never actually planned on giving it to him. Right after she wrote it, she folded it in half twice and stuck it between the pages of one of her school books. Every so often she comes across it again, and every time she sees it the feeling of loss washes over her again, but she can't bring herself to throw it away because she still hopes, even now, that one day her real father will come back to her._


End file.
